Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Beautiful Little Fools

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Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor

7 reviews

melissa_b_67's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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thecriticalreader's review

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Review:

It is difficult to review this book because I think someone’s enjoyment of it will rely heavily on how they approach a feminist reimagining of The Great Gatsby. Personally, I found it impossible to throw off the weight of Fitzgerald’s novel while reading Beautiful Little Fools, and I was constantly comparing the two, wondering whether I could imagine Fitzgerald’s characters acting this way. Since the characters in The Great Gatsby are all some shade of shallow and terrible, they do not lend themselves to sympathetic retellings that flesh out their characters. At some points, I felt that Beautiful Little Fools did a really good job at adapting the women’s stories, and at others I felt Canton made some truly bizarre decisions that made a mockery of The Great Gatsby.

For example, I really liked the idea that Daisy used her affair with Gatsby to get back at Tom rather than out of any lingering affection for Gatsby. I also liked the book's initial depiction of Gatsby as an obsessive man who carelessly wields his power to get what he wants: a "nice guy" whose exuberant, slightly threatening charming intensity bends people to his will. However, as the book went on, Gatsby became more of a caricature of your everyday "powerful male villain," which I felt flattened his character considerably.

Putting aside the legacy of The Great Gatsby hanging over this novel, I thought that the writing was pretty good, and the plot reimagining was impressively creative. My only criticisms are that the detective chapters were unnecessary, and that the feminism was a bit basic and on-the-nose at times.

The Run-Down:

You will probably like Beautiful Little Fools if:

· You have not read The Great Gatsby or you didn't like the The Great Gatsby

· You are open to a reimagining of The Great Gatsby that frames the original book’s events in radically different terms

You might not like Beautiful Little Fools if:

· You struggle to let retellings of classic stories stand on their own

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lbutcher's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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emilyanne_van's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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tanjalunney's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.0

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mysterymom40's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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kamin8882's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

"I hope she'll be a fool--that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool." Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby.

When I read the synopsis of this book, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy!! The Great Gatsby mixed with Big Little Lies, sign me up please !! Thank you so much to Netgalley, Harper Perennial and Jillian Cantor for an ARC of this amazingly brilliant book!

I have always loved The Great Gatsby, the book and the movie (especially with Leo <3) so I was super excited to read this book from the ladies POV!! Jillian Cantor did an amazing job diving us into the whole stories of Daisy, Jordan, Myrtle and her sister Catherine, while also giving us a little mystery. Who really killed Jay Gatsby? Was it George, the grieving husband? Or was it one of the many women Jay had hurt in his long and selfish journey to win Daisy back ??

What I loved the most about this book was that you got to see why and how everything ended up the way they did.... the events and feelings leading up to Jay Gatsby's murder, made everything make sense. In fact, it made me love the female characters more, unlike the original where I was left thinking the women of the story are selfish and flashy. I loved all the details Jillian Cantor added to this story to make us really understand what life was like for the leading ladies, and make them completely more relatable, vulnerable and human. Even the detective, investigating Gatsby's death just to earn a buck to spoil his lady, added such a unique spin on this amazing story. I loved it !!!

"I always thought it was us women who were the fools... but I was wrong, it's been the men all along, hasn't it?"

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